Description
A wonderful small holder offering blended by our good buddies at Cafe Imports. A beautiful example of what old world slow dry natural coffee should be; fruity, winy and wild. Best served at the lighter roast points. Those who love the fruity naturals, this is a stellar find. Be warned though, if you have not had a slow dry natural before, they are in a class of their own with very unique ferment tones from slow drying in the coffee fruit itself. As a general market statement, only half of coffee drinkers like the tastes coming from the more wild natural processing.
The lots were selected based on cleanliness and acidity/fruity factor to produce one highly rated and exotic cup of coffee, sustainably sourced through smaller channels to insure quality and responsibility.
Coming from higher-elevation farms in Marcala, where good conditions, varieties, and practices all intersect, to produced higher-acidity coffees with good structure and sweetness.
Tasting Notes: One sip is all you need to identify this fruity natural. Wonderfully wild red fruit tones comingle with more citric floral fruit tones to create the more unique feature set of this cup. The fruit tones balance with a classic Honduran nutty/chocolaty that starts as just a dryer hint at light roasts, to becoming very pronounced at darker roasts. Make sure to play around to find your perfect cup.
Light roasts front loads the cup profile with the fruity/citric components, will have just a hint of dryer nutty like tones. Medium roasts found the best balance developing a chocolaty factor in the cup along with the fruitiness. The tastes layer nicely with the fruitiness hitting first and the more chocolaty note sticking in the aftertaste, not overwhelmed with citric like the lighter roasts can be. Dark roasts are unique but get a little bitter/sour contrast if decently into second crack, strong bakers chocolate with a bit of soury fruit overtones will definitely be a cup some will love.
Roasting Notes: High chaff and a bit uneven roasting on these fruity naturals. Well worth it but most roasters will require a drop in batch size, makes it a bit easier. Light to medium roasts to see the cup shine. Make sure you are through first crack to get a tasty cup. Error a little darker than lighter on the first go. Setup really helps smooth out the cup, sharper floral/citric/fruity if drank too soon.
Altitude: 3600-4400 feet
Varieties: Catuai, Bourbon, Caturra, Lempira, IHCAFE 90
Jacob (verified owner) –
This one is a fantastic deal for anyone who loves fruity natural coffees (and I credit BCT for turning me on to them). The beans have an intense fruity aroma even in the unroasted state. Air roasting is preferable due to high chaff, but it comes off easily and the roast is pretty even. I roast the Marcala to just a bit past 1st crack and drink it SO or in a 3:2 blend with something far mellower, like a PNG, to cut the acid a bit.
For some reason people don’t seem to be buying it! I’m tempted to hoard even more…